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A Study on the ‘Right to Clothing’ from a Human Rights Perspective

  • Journal of Human Rights Studies
  • Abbr : JHRS
  • 2023, 6(1), pp.189-227
  • DOI : 10.22976/JHRS.2023.6.1.189
  • Publisher : Korean Association of Human Rights Studies
  • Research Area : Social Science > Law > Law of Special Parts > Human Rights / International Human Rights Law
  • Received : May 23, 2023
  • Accepted : June 22, 2023
  • Published : June 30, 2023

Jeongeum Choi 1 Soh Changrok 2 Young Woo Park 1

1휴먼아시아
2고려대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Clothing has three functions: primarily as physical protection, secondly as a tool for social participation, and thirdly as a cultural means. The are four international human rights documents adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that explicitly address the right to clothing: 1) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2) the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, 3) the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and 4) the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, there are few welfare policies established to promote and realize the right to clothing. The ground of this gap is the general perception of clothing with its third function. Therefore, the significance and urgency of its primary and second functions have yet to receive enough attention. Meanwhile, increased economic disparity is worsening the clothing deprivation of vulnerable social groups. From this background, this article examines the status of the right to clothing within the human rights discourse and attempts to conceptualize the “right to clothing as a human right.” For this purpose, it assesses the current status of clothing deprivation in the Republic of Korea, firstly through a survey of 265 low-income households of the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of welfare policy on their right to clothing, and secondly through interviews with civil societies that implement clothing supply-related programmes. Lastly, it proposes a new model which can be implemented in the Korean context.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.